Manage Mobility – Hold on. Let go.

The rise of flexible and remote working is drastically altering the way we need to access the data required to do our jobs. And while the majority see this transformation as inevitable, and welcome it, it’s often approached with trepidation by IT departments. The new technological landscape requires a stronger focus on device management, as workers expect to access business-critical information whenever and wherever they need it. Managed correctly, both the organisation and its employees benefit along with the economy as a whole. Last year’s Cebr report valued better connectivity as worth £30 billion to UK enterprises.

It’s no secret as to why CIOs are under pressure to embrace cloud technology to maximise expand their office and free up their workforce. Put simply, it works. The cost savings, collaborative and productivity benefits of cloud technology are well versed. And as employees apply more pressure on their workplaces to allow them to work smarter work as they live, the roll-out of mobile estates and applications is becoming more widespread than ever before. However, there are still fears around a loss of control and loss of productivity from teething problems resulting from the roll-out of hundreds, if not thousands, of devices; not to mention the implementation of adequate processes and support in order to facilitate it. Of course, hundreds of new devices can spawn hundreds of new networks and connections, creating more complex infrastructures than most organisations are used to. The key to mitigating these fears is two-fold: organisations must have adequate measures in place to ensure they hold on to their data while letting go of their traditional working practices – keeping information secure while boosting employee engagement and increasing productivity.

A good mobile strategy should embrace mobile devices as part of the mobile estate, aligning it with other IT services through mobile device management and productivity apps. It’s also vitally important to make sure your information is ready to be mobilised – giving your employees and customers access to the information they require from anywhere and everywhere – as seamlessly and effortlessly as possible.

As well as going through a digital transformation of our own, O2 has helped a diverse range of large organisations, from McDonald’s through to Microsoft and Network Rail, to keep pace with the digital revolution. From healthcare workers to railway employees, O2 is giving people access to up-to-date, usable information via smartphones and tablets. One customer, FirstPort, underwent a comprehensive migration from paper to tablet – equipping more than 1400 employees with tablets running Office 365 as well as consolidating their fixed, mobile and WAN infrastructure onto one integrated platform. Providing their people with the tools they need to do their job when away from the office is enabling the company to achieve a step change in the quality and consistency of the service they provide to their own customers.

While device management at this scale may seem complex, it does not need to be. O2 has built a platform to keep it simple – the first of its kind to bring together fixed, mobile and wifi networks – offering the most efficient infrastructure yet. This capability, alongside O2’s suite of mobile device management applications, allows you to roll out multiple services from a single connection, saving cost and driving workforce mobility, enabling quick deployment of communication and collaboration tools and easy, reliable but secure access to corporate data. O2 understands the need to get the right devices to the right people, without a dip in productivity – all while staying in control of your mobile estate. Without doubt, as we progress even further into  we enter the second phase of the digital revolution, effective mobile device and application management are among the key technologies that will help drive growth for your organisation.